SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

Ricciardo thinks he beat Vergne in pressure stakes

Daniel Ricciardo thinks Red Bull chose him over Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne because he is better at dealing with pressure.

In fact, Red Bull has said the young Australian's slight advantage in experience over Frenchman Vergne tipped the balance in Ricciardo's favour.

Asked the question by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Ricciardo answered: "Since I have been part of Red Bull, I have always got good results and shown to be fast.

"But I think the differential element was coping with the pressure at the time when we (Ricciardo and Vergne) knew we were being considered (for 2014)," he admitted.

"Jean-Eric has suffered a little while I was fine, both on Saturdays and Sundays," said Ricciardo, who at 24 is just under a year older than Vergne.

But now he has secured the seat alongside Sebastian Vettel, many believe Ricciardo may suffer the same fate as the German's departing teammate Mark Webber -- being roundly beaten and slipping into a 'number 2' role.

"I have no fear at all. I'm not Mark," Ricciardo said.

"The team told me not to be worried; that I will get the same opportunities as Seb," he insisted.

"They told me to ignore a lot of the things that are said, because most of the time they aren't true.

"And Mark told me to watch out for Sebastian, but from a sporting point of view, because he says he is constantly improving."